Local Food Hero: Macey’s Organic Butcher

Village life can be frustrating. You know by now how I feel about the limitations when it comes to food, but there are other basic services that life outside of the city simply cannot provide. Namely sharpening services for kitchen knives. I’ve tried everything. I’ve called up restaurants, asked mobile services and even tried calling up butchers but I cannot get my knife sharpened. Short of buying a new one, which is not going to happen, I didn’t know how to solve my problem. I bought some gadget on line that had been recommended but it didn’t work and for too long I’d been murdering my vegetables with the blunt end of my blade. Until I was rescued.

My local food hero this week is the team at Macey’s Organic Food in Cookham Rise. I called up to ask first if they would sharpen my knife and the butcher I spoke to suggested a good time to come down to the shop. It sounds simple, but I have tried other butchers, and they don’t seem to have the skills to offer knife sharpening. It’s all about machines and outsourcing and consequently the ability to sharpen a knife is out of easy reach. I was so impressed that getting my knife sharpened at Macey’s was as easy as it should be. Of all the people in the food business, a butcher should know how to maintain the tools of his trade and Ged and his team are a beacon in a dark sea of lost skills.

I have since been back to Ged’s shop and bought steak, which was priced well and of excellent quality, I also discovered that he stocks my most beloved Clonakilty Black Pudding. For those who don’t know – this is THE best black pudding you can ever eat. I used to gag at the thought of eating what is essentially a scab sausage, but after trying the Clonakilty I was sold. I’ve even been so bold as to try other brands, but none come even close to the glory of the Clonakilty. Support food heros like Ged and his team at Macey’s Organic Food and hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy proper meat and proper service for a long time to come.